Lipstick

You primp your hair and paint your lips 
Put powder on your nose
But in the darkness of your eyes
Your inhibition shows
A girlhood stolen by the years
A heart remembering only tears 
An ear that tunes itself to fears
A mind convinced that dying nears
Your mirror shows a wrinkled face
Not some young smooth-faced maid
And all that life has taught to you
Is how to be afraid
I see the sorrow in your glance
The pain of having lost romance
Yet still I wish you’d take a chance
And, just once, lift your feet and dance 

©️JJ 2019